Imaginary Control
by ReaperStygian
Summary: Thomas Sanders had always suffered from heightened anxiety, but even he never thought something like this could never really happen. Sure, he'd thought about it, been scared about it, but he'd never... really... considered it as a possibility? But now here he was, in an alleyway in the dead of night, shoes covered in spilled milk, and a guy pointing an actual gun at his head.
1. Chapter 1

Thomas Sanders had always suffered from heightened anxiety, but even he never thought something like this could never really happen. Sure, he'd thought about it, been scared about it, but he'd never... really... considered it as a possibility? But now here he was, in an alleyway in the dead of night, shoes covered in spilled milk, and a guy pointing an actual gun at his head, demanding Thomas hand over any and all money he may have. And yes, this was bad enough. But it got even worse, somehow, when his four (fake! pretend!) pieces of his personalities appeared to save him- Roman, Logan, Patton, and Virgil. This was going from worse, to worse.

Pairings: LoganXPatton aka LogicXMorality and RomanXVirgil aka PrinceXAnxiety.

Cover belongs to ABD Illustrates: www .youtube channel/UCBwZRhr0Xsxf7csWECf_Mmg

No. No no no.

This wasn't meant to happen! Thomas had been stressed enough about going out to buy milk from the corner store, but he hadn't really had a choice since he had already been halfway done in his attempt to bake when he noticed the missing ingredient and hadn't wanted to throw the entire thing away. Normally he avoided going out for things like this when it was already dark out, but he had decided once couldn't kill him, and he couldn't let his anxiety hold him back all the time!

At this point, he found himself wishing he _had_ let his anxiety hold him back. He had gotten to the store, bought the milk, and started to walk back- when he had been forcibly dragged into an alleyway, slammed against a wall (milk falling and breaking open, spilling onto his shoes) and told by a clearly homeless and deranged man to hand over all his money or die.

Did Thomas mention the gun pointed at his head? Because that was important!

Now if only Thomas had any money. Thomas shuddered, back aching from being pushed against the wall so roughly, but that was the least of his problems. Staring into the beady blue eyes of Mister Insane, he gulped dryly. "I don't h-have any money," he managed to say, internally flipping out. Nope, not good, not good at all- and if he screamed, he had an idea that he would get his brains blown out.

Clearly, the homeless guy didn't believe him anyways. "Bullshit," he snapped, eyes flashing with rage. "Of course you don't!" Laughing, their faces way too close, Thomas could smell the rot and alcohol of the breath of the other. "That's what you bought your milk with, right?" The man continued to laugh in between his words. "What do you think I am, an idiot?"

"Of course not!" Appease the man with the gun, seemed easy enough... wrong! "I- you can check my pockets. My bag, my- I don't have money on me, at all-"

"Well then you're useless, aren't you?"

"I shall save you and slay the beast!" Suddenly, a body slammed into the homeless man's, sending them both toppling to the ground. The gun went off, a crack in the night, and Thomas cried out in slight pain, hands snapping up to cover his ears at the way too loud and way too close noise.

Fear filled him, and he grabbed his phone to call nine one one- who knew who had been shot! He could only hope, at best, it was no one, and at worse, the homeless man. Suddenly, the male that had come to his rescue managed to pin the other under him, grabbing a rock off the ground and knocking him unconscious. He was too in the shadows for Thomas to see properly, so Thomas decided to try to figure out if anyone, or which of them, had been shot wasn't as important as calling nine one one.

Just before he could hit the call button, a hand grabbed his wrist. "I wouldn't do that," a... familiar? voice tsked softly. Thomas flinched, quickly looking up to see who it was before his eyes widened.

Logic?

And finally, finally, Thomas fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

Thomas woke slowly, twitching slightly as he peeled his heavy eyelids open. He blinked at his roof, confused about how he had gotten home- because that's definitely where he was, home. He could recognize it instantly, the roof above him, the bed underneath him... he was still wearing his clothes, which was definitely uncomfortable, but not too much of a surprise. It wasn't the first time he'd fallen asleep in his clothes...

But this time was different. Sitting up, he thought back to the night before, his eyes widening. Was it all a dream? It didn't feel like a dream... but... he had seen Logic, well, Logan. Logan was just something that Thomas had created- he wasn't real! He had created all four of them as different pieces of his personalities for vines (RIP) and his YouTube videos.

Maybe he had just thought the stranger that had saved him was Logan? But he was back at home. Someone had to have brought him back. Who could it have been? Deciding that sitting around and doing nothing wasn't going to solve anything, Thomas slowly got out of bed.

At first, he was ready to charge right out of his bedroom and try to figure out what was happening, but he decided to get dressed first, and he did so. He also brushed his hair, making sure it was free of tangles. The motions of doing so helped him calm down a bit. Whatever was going on, there was going to be a perfectly normal explanation for him.

Finally, he left his room, heading towards the kitchen first- he had to get something to eat before he tackled the problem, it was important to eat breakfast. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day after all! Entering the kitchen, he froze, eyes widening.

"Patton, please pass the milk."

"Here you go!"

"Thank you."

"Are you really going to eat that...? That's nasty..."

"Oh shut up Mr. Gloom, I need my energy, since I actually work, unlike you!"

"Now now, let's not fight! We can all get along."

"Psh."

What. By now it was clear Thomas was most likely insane, since you know, the four bits of his personality he had just made clear didn't exist in real life not that long ago, were all sitting in his kitchen eating cereal. None had noticed him yet, which Thomas could only thank himself lucky for since he was still trying to figure out how this was possible.

Maybe it was a prank? But who would even prank him like this? And they all looked exactly like Thomas, their bone structure, height, weight, hair, eyes... and of course, they were all wearing their current outfits and the personalities each of them had was flawless. It was them. So, since it wasn't a prank... Was Thomas insane like he had first thought?

"Thomas! Kiddo!" Patton finally looked up, his eyes lighting up. Quickly he jumped up, starting towards Thomas who hurriedly stepped back, making Patton stop with a small frown appearing on his face, concern flickering in his eyes. "Thomas?"

All the other personality bits looked over at him as well, and Logan stood quickly, clearing his throat. "Patton, I suggest you stand back a bit- Thomas has just woken up from fainting." Patton frowned more, but stood back, looking at Logan with wide eyes. Logan continued on, "it was probably caused by stress, not any heart problems like low blood sugar or anemia luckily. Most likely just a simple vasovagal attack."

A simple what? Thomas looked at Logan, swallowing thickly, ignoring Patton's whisper of 'you're so smart!'. "This... isn't possible," he breathed instead, and then Logan was frowning as well.

"What isn't possible? If whatever the 'impossible' thing is, is taking place right now then you're incorrect-"

 _"I think,"_ Virgil spoke up, rolling his eyes and hunching over slightly, "that was Thomas means is that our existence isn't possible. And it's not. Maybe he's going insane. Maybe something in his brain is broken making him hallucinate. Maybe you'll even die, Thomas-"

"Enough!" Roman huffed, crossing his arms and raising his head up into the air. "Yes, our appearance isn't usual, but that's no reason to worry Thomas!" Looking back at Thomas, he smiled. "I swear on my honor not to let any harm come to you Thomas, just ignore gloom and doom."

"Gloom and doom?" Virgil repeated. "Pretty sure you've used that one already. One hundred times already-"

"Guysssss stop," Patton spoke out, frowning. "Can I hug Thomas now? Now that we're all sure that this isn't normal and all? Let's just make the best out of it! It's okay Kiddo, I'll give you a hug!"

Thomas put his hands up quickly, shaking his head no. "I'm okay, thanks!" he said quickly. "I'm just uh... going to book a doctor's appointment and- wait, Roman, that was you last night wasn't it? You attacked the guy trying to steal from me?"

Roman tossed his hair back with a dazzling smile. "Of course!" he declared. "My fighting skills are better than anyone's, and I easily slayed the despicable villain."

Right. "If y-you interacted with him, it means you're physical... You're really here, all of you." Thomas breathed in deeply, running a hand through his hair. This really, really shouldn't be happening, at all, he didn't like it.

They were physical. They were there. They were actually there. And by now Thomas was rather sure it wasn't a prank. More like... some bizarre dream. But it felt too real to be a dream. A lucid dream maybe? Was that how it worked? He wasn't sure.

He was on the verge of a panic attack, his breathing coming out in short gasps, so quickly he tried to calm himself- breathing in... and out... and in... and out... It was like he had entered a TV show or a cartoon like the ones he always loved to watch.

Hadn't he once said living in a cartoon would be really cool? It didn't feel really cool now. But he had to adapt. He could still go to the doctor's, figure this out- maybe there was still some sort of scientific explanation?

"-mas? Thomas?" Thomas snapped back into reality. Patton was way too close now, waving a hand in front of his face, making him flinch back slightly. "Are you okay kiddo? You sort of zoomed out."

"Clearly Roman's voice was starting to annoy him," Virgil said, making Roman glare at him. Just as Roman opened his mouth to snap some cutting comment back, Thomas stepped in and spoke up.

"Wait- look, I'm going to the hospital now, alright?" All of them turned towards him. "I need to figure this out, need to get this fixed, and I need to do it now."

"Wait, but don't you remember the movies?" Patton shivered, eyes wide. "In all the movies, weird people like us get experimented on!"

"I have to agree with Patton," Logan said quickly, making Thomas looked towards him quickly. "You have to admit Thomas, even if there is some 'explanation' the most likely will be you being insane. Mentally unstable people get locked away or put on medication, and I strongly doubt medication will do you all that good or even make us leave for that matter."

"Just keep us a secret," Virgil whispered, narrowing his eyes. "What would your friends and family think if they heard about this? Even if they support you, they'd still be weirded out by your clear mental problems. They might even start to get distant-"

"And you think I should believe the voices in my head!?" Thomas exploded. He grabbed his own head quickly, stepping back. He was so frustrated and freaked out. Despite him knowing the 'people' in front of him weren't real, their words were still enough to make him worry, make him think.

Patton really looked like he was trying not to hug him, eyes wide and tearful and so worried. "Thomas, come on," he insisted, "why is this a bad thing anyways? It's not like we're going to hurt you! And we can just stay here in your house until we can figure out how to go away!"

"Go away to where?" Thomas whispered, suddenly feeling sick. It hadn't occurred to him, that they had to have come from somewhere.

Logan rolled his eyes and pushed his glasses back up. "Back into your mind," he explained as though it were obvious. "You created us. It's where we came from. It's where we must return to. Besides, who knows what would happen to you if we were separated or if one of us died?"

"Died?" Patton echoed, looking alarmed. Roman quickly patted the dad character on the shoulder.

"I'll protect us," Roman spoke, looking every bit the prince character he was.

Thomas had to weigh his options. Pros and cons. There... weren't really too many of each. There were two things that could be happening.

He was going insane- he had a mental disorder, in which case the four couldn't physically harm him anyway, and if they did he could get help right away with medication or whatever. If this was the case it was best to get help now, but he didn't want his friends and family to worry either, which was a con. And there was evidence this wasn't possible since Roman had fought the man in the alleyway and they were all eating breakfast.

The other option was they were telling the truth, they had come from his head, and they needed to figure out how to go back. The fact he was even considering this option was insane itself, but he didn't have much of another choice, and despite everything, this option seemed more likely.

So... with all four seeming to agree with the second option, that one being more likely, and not having too many cons for following it (except his own mental health if he were wrong, but his mental health was already a mess anyways) it seemed like the only thing he could really say was...

"fine."


	3. Chapter 3

Once Thomas's words of acceptance were spoken, the traits all quickly went back to doing their own thing. They all seemed to have finished eating, leaving Thomas to do the dishes as they all quickly went to the living room.

"Let's watch a movie!" Patton said quickly, sounding excited as he smiled brightly. He jumped onto the couch with a small noise of excitement.

Rolling his eyes, Logan sat next to him, crossing his arms over his chest. "What movie?" he questioned, pausing to fix his glasses.

Roman sat down, Virgil hovering to the side as if he weren't sure whether he should leave or sit with the rest. That question was answered though when Roman grabbed him, dragging him down as well. "A Disney movie of course," Roman said in a cheerful voice, ignoring Virgil's annoyed sigh as he shifted to get comfortable.

"Let's watch Big Hero 6," Logan offered. Virgil crossed his arms, not replying, while Patton nodded quickly in excitement. Roman started to put the movie on, not looking as if he cared as long as it was a Disney movie.

Soon enough, the movie started playing. Not far into it, both Roman and Patton had tears in their eyes from the death of Tadashi. Logan frowned at the pair. "Haven't you both already seen this?" he asked after a moment. "Why does it still make you emotionally upset when you watch it?"

"Because it's sad," Patton wailed. He turned and buried his face into Logan, who froze, looking at if someone had just given him a crying child and ran away. "H-h-his o-older brother's g-gone and he missed him," Patton sniffed.

Virgil sighed. "Just ignore them," he muttered to Logan, who nodded and stayed stiff, just allowing Patton to do his... thing.

Soon enough, Thomas finished the dishes and sat down on the floor to watch the movie with them. It was a bit relaxing, being able to just... sit down and watch TV after the life changing things that had just taken place. He was even able to lose himself in the movie slightly, relaxing more and more.

That was until it was over and Virgil had to ruin it. "What a waste of time," he muttered, "in which we could have been trying to figure out how to go back into Thomas's head!"

"That was not a waste!" Patton huffed, sitting up from Logan, who looked very relieved. "It was family movie time, Virgil! We need to get along and be friends- family -if we want to figure this out!"

"I don't think that's how it works..." Virgil rolled his eyes, slumping down into his sweater even more. Patton's mouth fell open, and he looked hurt.

Roman frowned a bit. "Well, maybe becoming a family isn't needed, but team work is," he said after a moment, making Patton brighten up a bit. "Stop acting so mean and grumpy just because no one likes you," Roman added, glaring at Virgil.

"I do believe we should ignore this controversy and work on figuring out the solution since we have taken a break," Logan added in, frowning a bit. Virgil and Roman ignored him though, Virgil going to throw back another insult when Thomas jumped in.

"That's enough," Thomas snapped, standing up and facing them as he crossed his arms. "Stop fighting. You're all right! We do have to know how to work together, or be 'friends', but we also have to focus on the problem at hand, alright?"

All the traits looked at him, stuck between different stages of agreeance and indifference.

"Well," Logan said after a moment, "let's start brainstorming."


	4. Chapter 4

An hour of brainstorming later, and they came up with nothing. It seemed like every road they turned down, every option they thought there may be, turned into a dead end, with no way to get there. After all, it wasn't an easy issue. Thomas didn't exactly think that anyone else had ever had to face this issue. Or at least, if someone had, he didn't know about it. Even Logan admitted he had no idea, which was rare.

Virgil muttering all his small remarks under his breath about how it was impossible, and they were going to be trapped there forever, and eventually, they'd be found out and dragged into some scientists test lab wasn't helpful either. They all generally tried to ignore it, Patton trying to drown it out with positivity, but it got to them all in the end.

"There doesn't seem to be any remedy for this complication at the moment, so I suggest we all learn to adapt to the circumstances, at least until we can discover a superior method to dealing with this," Logan finally said, crossing his arms and frowning.

Patton looked at him, pouting. "Awww Logan, buddy, don't give up!" he said quickly.

Logan fixed him with a strange stare. "I am _not_ 'giving up' I'm simply, like I already stated, adapting. The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."

"Does someone need a hug?"

"No, I do not need- well then." Logan awkwardly patted Patton on the back. The most loving trait sighed, snuggling closer before letting go and stepping back.

"Well," Virgil said after a moment, looking between them, "that was... very cringy."

Logan only sighed and ran his hands down his clothes as if dusting them off. "Are you satisfied?" he questioned, directing his words towards Patton.

Patton smiled at him and twirled slightly from side to side. "Are _you_ satisfied?"

Logan opened his mouth as if to reply when Roman suddenly spoke up. "Look, enough with the hugs- clearly the situation calls for us to fight!"

"Fight what, smart ass?" Virgil snapped. Narrowing his eyes, he looked towards Thomas. "Thomas has been pretty quiet- probably because he knows already, that there is no solution, this isn't normal, it's just another sign that we're messed up-"

"Now, now, that isn't true!" Patton said quickly, clapping his hands together. "None of us are 'messed up!' Not me, Virgil, Roman, Logan, or Thomas! We're all special, and unique!"

"Your grammar was-"

"Look," Thomas said, interrupting Logan to speak, "I think... Logan and Virgil are right." Virgil looked surprised, while Logan just straightened, turning to look at him and paying attention. Patton and Roman looked mildly horrified, both quickly trying to talk, but Thomas spoke quickly before they could. "Not with we're all messed up stuff! Just... we can't find anything by sitting in a circle and talking. We'll figure this out, whatever this is, but... this isn't helping. Adapt, and all, right?"

"Exactly my point," Logan said quickly. "I will go and effectuate my own research, and you can all go and do your own thing to aid us."

"Well, I just think we get more done when we work together," Patton said quickly, frowning and gazing at Logan with his puppy eyes.

Thomas suddenly sat up, eyes lighting up. "How about this- wait, you all know about left brain right brain, right?" he asked. Everyone looked towards Logan, who sighed.

"Well, it's- the brain is divided into two hemispheres. The 'left brain' is supposed to be more... intelligence based, more logical, analytical, objective. Meanwhile, the right brain is said to be based on feelings, imagination, intuition, rhythm." Logan paused, and hesitated, before adding, "but-"

"Logan, you talked too much," Virgil interrupted, making Logan fall silent. Virgil only had eyes for Thomas, said eyes very narrowed. "Where are you going with this, exactly?"

"Well, I think you and Logan are like the left brain, while Patton and Roman are my right brain," Thomas explained. "So... why don't I split you guys up into two groups, a left brain with a right brain? With different talents, you can cover each other blind spots."

"Teamwork!" Patton squealed happily.

Even Logan's eyes lit up, and he nodded slowly. "Yes... I... what will the groups be?"

"Logan with Patton, and Virgil with Roman," Thomas declared. Logan and Patton didn't look like they really minded, Logan's facial expression not twitching, and Patton looking excited to work with either Logan or Virgil. But Virgil and Roman were a different story.

"You're joking, right?" Virgil demanded, a heavy scowl appearing on his face. "All me and princey here _do_ is fight! Why don't you and him team up, and I'll go by myself?"

"Agreed," Roman huffed, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "I'd prefer to be with you, Thomas, than Anxiety!"

"Enough," Thomas snapped, rolling his eyes. Anxiety? What, did Roman not want to call Virgil, by, well, Virgil? "I have work. Besides, this is a good test to see if we can all separate."

"And if we can't?" Virgil demanded, narrowing his eyes. "If you're on the highway, and you hit the borders of how far we can separate, and your car just stops? Congratulations, now you're dead, and whoever was behind you is dead as well."

"I doubt it," Thomas replied. "Either we can't, or we can. It wouldn't go that far and then stop."

"And if you're wrong?"

"I'm not."

Virgil frowned and than groaned. "Fine," he snapped, "but don't blame me if you die."

"I won't." Thomas rolled his eyes a bit at Virgil, and then left the room, at last, to get ready. The room was tense for a moment, everyone quiet, before Patton suddenly moved forwards, grasping Logan's hand, who jumped a bit at the touch.

"C'mon Logan!" Patton said, tugging Logan towards the kitchen. "We shall take the kitchen, and you guys can have the living room!" The pair vanished into the kitchen, leaving Virgil and Roman to sort of just stand there, giving each other looks.

Virgil slumped down a bit, biting his lips and averting his eyes. Great. This was going to go terribly, he could already tell. Despite the entire 'anxiety acceptance' thing, Roman and he couldn't stop butting heads. Of course, they were both aware at this point the other was necessary, but that didn't mean it made it easier!

"Well," Roman said after a moment, a sort of fake 'getting along' tone in his voice, "let's get started, shall we?"

Virgil nodded. This next while was going to be, simply put, terrible.

"It's two cups flour, one tablespoon of baking soda, another tablespoon of baking powder, and half a tablespoon of salt," Logan read from the recipe book. Patton nodded, putting all those ingredients in the first bowl.

"Mix it and then set it aside," Logan continued, leaving Patton to grab a whisk. He watched Patton carefully as the cheerful trait quickly mixed it all up until it was all blended nicely.

Patton looked up at Logan, eyes bright. "Did I do it right?" he asked, his turning even brighter when Logan nodded. "Now what?"

"Set that bowl aside," Logan continued, Patton doing so, "and take out another. This time we need... two eggs, two cups of sugar, one cup of buttermilk, half a cup of oil, and two tablespoons of vanilla. Then whisk."

Patton nodded, adding them all. He accidentally got a bit of shell, but Logan instructed him on how to pull it out, which Patton did so quickly. "Do you want to whisk?" Patton asked, offering him to whisk this time.

"What are you two doing?" Patton and Logan looked up. Virgil was the one who had spoken. He was standing with Roman at the entrance to the kitchen, both carefully not looking at each other. Well, they were both looking at Patton and Logan, Virgil looked rather pissed off and Roman just looking hurt.

"You're making a cake? Without us?" Roman questioned.

Patton's eyes went wide. "What? Oh- I'm so sorry Roman! I should have asked if you two wanted to join us!"

"That's not the point!" Virgil threw his hands into the air, looking frustrated. "I just spent what felt like an eternity with the pampered prince working on how to get us out of here and back into Thomas's head, which is what we're supposed to be doing, and you two are making a cake? What even is this? I mean, I can understand Patton, but you were supposed to keep him in order _Logic!"_

Logan paused, frowning, and suddenly looked rather bothered. Turning to look at Patton, his frown grew. After a moment, he said, "manipulative," which made Patton blush.

"How exactly did Patton 'manipulate' you?" Virgil snapped, crossing his arms.

Roman stepped away from him, more into the kitchen, turning to glare at the darker trait. "Now, we're stuck out here, and we don't have any idea how to get back," he snapped, "we can only wait until we get a clue, and until then, we should keep our hopes up! The idea of making a cake is marvelous."

("Never give me those eyes again," Logan hissed in the background to Patton.)

"A marvelous waste of time," Virgil hissed back.

Roman decided after a moment to ignore him for once, not willing to give him the satisfaction. "Can I help?" you said instead, fixing his gaze to Patton, leaving Virgil to gape.

Patton nodded, holding the whisk up. "Do you want to whisk?" he questioned, blinking innocently. "Logan doesn't want to!" Roman accepted to whisk and started to stir the bowl, still looking incredibly prince like and dignified.

Virgil clenched his fist and spun to storm off, and then suddenly Patton popped up by him, grabbing onto his arm. Virgil stiffened, fighting the urge to throw him off, only relaxing a bit when Patton quickly let go. "What?" he growled.

"Want to help?"

"No I don't want to-" Virgil cut himself off when he looked at Patton. Patton was giving him the wounded puppy dog look, eyes wide and sad.

Blinking, Patton's eyes seemed to get even sadder. "What if you just sit and watch?" he asked. "You can be in charge of safety because you're good at that!"

Good at that? Most people just got upset at him, since he worried too much. It wasn't like he could help it though- he was anxiety. They continued staring at each other, and then Virgil walked over to the counter, sitting up on it and crossing his arms.

There was a moment of silence.

"Is this good?" Roman asked, holding his bowl up.

Logan peered into it and nodded. "Now, we need one last bowl, a small one, and in it I want you to put three-fourths a cup of cocoa powder three-fourths a cup of coffee..."

And so, Thomas's words forgotten, the four traits worked on their cake.

Cake: en/recipes/6151-the-i-best-best-i-chocolate-cake. I also want to make it clear this story will have a lot of bonding/'filler'/etc, and the main plot will be a bit of a side thing, but it will have an ending.


	5. Chapter 5

"You guys? Why do you have so many dishes- wait, did you guys make a cake? We had the right ingredients to make a cake?"

The traits all looked up at Thomas, who was staring into the sink with a slightly horrified expression. "We saved you a piece!" Patton said quickly, eyes shining. "Logan wanted to eat it- turns out he has a sweet tooth -but I told him NO!"

Thomas looked over at Patton. After a moment, he just slowly forced a smile. "Thanks," he said shortly, moving over to join them. They were all in the living room once more, sitting on the couch. "I'll eat it in a bit," Thomas added, seeing Patton's expression. He just wanted to avoid looking at the dishes for now. "What did you find out today?"

"We didn't discover any useful information," Logan said instantly, frowning, "because Patton manipulated us."

Thomas raised an eyebrow at Patton. "You manipulated them?" he repeated after a tiny pause.

Patton blushed, looking down and away. "I used my puppy dog eyes!" he declared, sounding both proud and embarrassed. "They always work! In no time at all, everyone wanted to be a family and make a cake together!"

"More time wasted," Virgil muttered, rolling his eyes. Thomas frowned, sort of agreeing with Virgil, but not wanting to voice it. Besides, all other issues aside, he didn't have enough money or food to support a household of five people for very long.

"Enough of this depressing talk," Roman spoke up, sighing. "Why don't we watch another movie? What about Cinderella? It's a classic! Thomas can eat his cake, and we can relax."

"We're doing too much relaxing," Virgil snarled, grinding his teeth. "We need to do more thinking, we can't stay out here for too long- Thomas doesn't have enough money to support us! Patton is wasting our time trying to make us a family-" Patton's face fell slightly, and he looked sad "-when we should be focusing on trying to get back into Thomas's head!"

"Do not focus the mass of the issue on Patton," Logan muttered, looking at Virgil. "We are all equally at fault for allowing ourselves to be distracted. We apologize, Thomas, tomorrow we shall focus properly on the task at hand."

"Sorry Thomas," Patton whispered, looking down.

"I, too, apologize," Roman added.

Virgil only glared at the ground, but everyone knew that was probably the most they were going to get from him.

Thomas sighed. "Thank you, Virgil," he said after a tiny pause. "Really, I don't hate any of you guys, or the fact you guys are here, or anything like that! It's just, it's dangerous for you guys to be here. Like Virgil said, I don't have enough money or food. Also, friends and family are going to want to visit! If any of them see you..."

They all nodded quickly. After a tiny pause, Thomas stood up, heading over to the TV and setting up Cinderella. They weren't going to figure anything else out tonight, and everyone had promised to work harder the next day. Might as well watch another movie.

It was worth it as well, when all the sides seemed a lot happier. Well, Patton and Roman did at least, Logan and Virgil had relaxed as well though, so Thomas counted it.

As the movie started to play, Thomas went to get his piece of cake.

Roman didn't think this was fair. It was like everytime Thomas had to pair them up, he did so in a way to make Roman as upset as possible. Also known as he kept pairing him up with Virgil. Even to sleep. Together. In a bed. Did he mention together?

Thomas let them all borrow some of his clothes to sleep in once it was getting late, pulling the extra matresses out. One was put into the living room, and when was put in the upstairs office room. Roman and Virgil ended up with the living room while Logan and Patton ended up with the one upstairs.

Thomas didn't even look like he felt bad about it. He'd given them a rather cheeky smile, told them 'good night' and then left.

"Well," Virgil said after a moment of silence, feeling just as bad as Roman over the entire thing, "I-"

"I'm sleeping on the couch," Roman interrupted. He moved over to the couch, grabbing one of the blankets and wrapping it around himself, closing his eyes tightly. It wasn't the most comfortable position to sleep in, but it wasn't terrible, and it wasn't as bad as sleeping with Anxiety would be.

Roman didn't hate him, not after the whole 'Accepting Anxiety' thing (their selves were tied in with the videos, whatever happened in the videos felt real to them) but it was still weird. They still fought. They just had too many different opinions on each other, was all.

He heard Virgil moving around after a moment, laying down and getting comfortable.

It didn't take long to fall asleep.

A few hours later, Roman woke up. He was sleepy, and it was dark, and it was way too early to be awake, and at first, he wasn't sure why exactly he was awake. Then, he heard it. A tiny, stifled sob. Eyes widening, he sat up quickly, turning to the form he could barely make out in the dark. Virgil, asleep on the mattress.

Asleep? Was he having a nightmare? Virgil whimpered, answering his question. Roman thought about waking him up for a moment, but pushed that idea away- wasn't waking someone up in the middle of their sleep a bad thing to do for some reason?

He couldn't just ignore him though... Roman untangled himself from the blankets, wishing that Patton was here instead of himself. Patton would know exactly what to do. Hesitantly, he moved over onto the ground, so he was kneeling on the mattress by Virgil. Slowly, he reached out, touching his forehead, brushing some hair out of his eyes. "Be quiet," he whispered softly, blushing even if Virgil couldn't see him. "There's nothing to fear, not while I guard over you." He remembered Patton's words. "I won't let anyone hurt my family."

When Virgil grabbed him, dragging him down into the blankets with him, he startled slightly, thinking he had woken up. But no, he was still asleep. Lips twitching, Roman carefully moved in a better position.

After making sure Virgil wasn't still having a nightmare (he wasn't! mission success!) he went back to sleep himself.

 _(Meanwhile, Patton somehow convinced Logan to cuddle with him all night long, and they had NO issues. The lucky bastards.)_


	6. Chapter 6

Why was something touching him? Virgil shifted under the covers, confused as to the weight beside him. It was warm, and pressing into him, and Virgil had to resist the urge to press into the touch. Unlike the others, warmth and hugs weren't as well known to him, so he wanted to embrace it whenever he could.

But... what was happening? Virgil thought back to the night before, and it took him a moment to sort through his tired head for the events of last night to snap into place. In a moment he sat up and moved AWAY from the warmth, twisting and looking towards it in shock.

It was... Roman? Roman was curled up, eyes lightly closed, eyelashes fluttering lightly across his cheeks. His mouth was slightly open, and he was breathing in and out softly, a tiny smile on his face probably from whatever exciting, colorful dream he was having. Virgil was pretty sure Roman had fallen asleep on the couch last night though... so WHY the HELL had he been- Virgil blushed slightly -cuddling Virgil?

Roman moved slightly, and Virgil moved back a bit more, watching as the prince yawned and sat up, stretching. Virgil gave Roman a moment to wake up before snapping, "what the HELL Princey."

Flinching in surprise, Roman turned slightly to look at him, before yelping and covering his face. "Don't look at me!" Roman yelled, twisting away, making Virgil's jaw drop a bit in confusion and surprise. "I'm a mess! I have to watch and style my hair, and do my makeup!" Did Roman wear makeup?

"You look fine," Virgil hissed. He wasn't wearing any of his makeup, but he wasn't freaking out. Roman was seriously too whiny about his looks. If anything the bed head look made him look cute. (Virgil would never admit that he thought that). "Just... why the hell are you in my bed?"

The surprise actually made Roman look back at him, frowning. "What?" he muttered, then he seemed to realize what was making Virgil so upset. "Oh- well don't be like THAT, you were the one that had a nightmare. I was just doing my duty, protecting you."

Virgil felt like blushing again, but he hid it. He had forgotten about that. About his nightmares. They barely even bothered him. What had Roman saw? Had Virgil said anything in his sleep? "I don't need your protection!" Virgil snarled, stumbling up to his feet and pretending not to notice Roman's flinch. "Ugh, I'll just sleep alone next time, better than being touched by you!"

He missed the slightly hurt expression on Roman's face, too caught up in his horror of being seen. His nightmares were a secret. But Roman seemed to think this was a one-time thing, which was good at least. "Fine," Roman muttered, "I'm sorry my touch disgusts you so much."

Virgil flinched, eyes widening a bit. He hadn't meant to hurt the creative sides feelings, not that he should care, but- Virgil turned around, but Roman was gone.

"-with me!" Patton declared happily, as he continued to smear jam over the bagels. "What about you, Virgil? How did your night with Roman go?" Thomas had gone out and bought them a bunch of bagels since they were cheap and could last them a while but would fill up the sides well enough. Patton and Virgil were making them, while Logan was researching and Roman was still in the bathroom fixing up his makeup.

Virgil sighed at the question. Badly. That was how it had gone, and it was Virgil's fault. If he hadn't over-reacted... It wasn't Roman's fault, he didn't understand how bad the dreams were, and how scared Virgil was for people to find out.

Patton paused and looked up at Virgil, frowning in concern. "That bad?" he asked, leaning over to him a bit. "What happened? C'mon Virgil, you know you can tell me anything!"

Anything? No. Patton was definitely the nice one, and Virgil trusted Patton more then he would have expected. But... not anything. Could he tell him this? He'd have to blur over some parts. "I... Roman tried to do a good thing to help me, and I hurt him," Virgil admitted.

When Virgil didn't stop his movements of adding jam to the bagels, Patton reached out and took his wrist gently. Virgil looked up slowly, connecting his eyes with Patton's own. "Virgil, if that's true you have to talk to him," Patton urged him. "Apologize. Why did you hurt him?"

He knew that. He knew he should apologize, but... "He just... startled me?" Virgil offered. "He saw something I didn't want him to, and when I woke up he was touching me- NO, Patton, not like that!" Virgil felt his face grow red, even as Patton laughed at him.

"Go talk to him," Patton insisted. "Now. I'll finish up, okay? I can jam some bagels alone." Virgil nodded, placing his butter knife on the counter, but still wavered. Sighing, Patton placed a hand on his back, and gently pushed him in the direction of the bathroom. "Go, Virgil."

Scowling, Virgil went. Stopping in front of the bathroom, he hovered nervously for a moment before knocking. "In here," Roman called out after a moment. "I'm doing my makeup, do you need to use the facilities?"

"Roman, it's me. Let me in." There was a moment of silence. Then the door was opened, and Roman looked out, eyes narrowed, and... unsure? Virgil scuffled awkwardly. "Can I come in...?" Raising an eyebrow, Roman moved out of the way of the door, allowing Virgil to slip inside before the door clicked shut behind him.

Virgil glanced around. Thomas didn't really have much makeup but kept some of Joan's and Talyn's stuff around. Roman was pretty much finished. He didn't put a lot on, just basics. His hair seemed sparkly as well, and it was flowing. Sighing, Roman turned towards the mirror, going back to applying.

Hesitating, Virgil slid up beside him, reaching towards the makeup and doing his own as well, putting black around his eyes and making his face pale. For a weird moment, it was okay. They were okay, just standing there in comfortable silence.

But once fifteen minutes were up and they finished, and the makeup was all packed away, the talk Virgil had been trying to avoid came back full force. "What do you want Virgil?" Roman sighed, turning towards him. "Look, I apologize for making you uncomfortable. I will sleep on the floor tonight-"

"No!" Virgil wasn't that selfish. "I just... I'm sorry for snapping at you. No one really... is supposed to know I have nightmares."

"Nightmares?" Roman repeated, stressing the s. Virgil gave him a look, and Roman frowned. "Virgil... I won't tell the others, but I don't understand why you want to hide it. I mean, Logan at the least could help, with all of his nerd stuff! And I'd be glad to fight the nightmares whenever needed-"

"I'm not weak," Virgil hissed, "I'm not... a charity project. I can deal with it myself. I've always have, so..."

"That's our fault," Roman interrupted, looking guilty. "You never should have had to deal with it yourself. We're here now. And... I'm sorry for touching you still but it seemed to help, and that's all that I wanted to do. We may not always get along, but you're still part of us."

This entire conversation felt so weird. He wasn't use to it, to these weird emotional conversations. "Thanks," Virgil said hesitantly. "I... this entire issue is wrong, okay? I think... we should put all our issues aside for now and try to work together, at least until we can return back into Thomas's mind."

Roman nodded in agreement. "I agree! We are comrades in arms fighting against an unknown future! Prior enemies, turned allies- or... maybe even turned friends?"

They cast each other hesitant looks. "Sure," Virgil agreed finally. They had to try, they owed it to themselves.

"They're so cute," Patton sighed, offering Logan the plate. Logan took it, looking up at him and raising an eyebrow. "Virgil and Roman," Patton clarified. "They're so adorable together! Aren't they?" Logan still didn't really seem to understand what Patton was getting at, but nodded anyway, just because he knew that was the best way to deal with Patton at times like these. "So, have you found anything?" Patton questioned, sitting down next to him.

"There's no recorded occurrence of anything that mirrors this," Logan replied, gesturing towards the laptop. "At least nothing I have been able to unearth."

"We'll figure it out," Patton declared, biting into his own food. "Take a break from working and eat." He took the laptop away from Logan quickly, pointing at his food. "If you don't eat, your brains not going to be able to work well enough to do all the research needed anyways!"

Logan frowned, but nodded, aware that Patton was correct. He started to eat his food as well if only to eat quickly and gain his laptop back. "You're very optimistic, though that isn't really a revelation."

Patton smiled happily at his words. "Well someone has to keep everyone's hopes up," he declared, "if we're all sad, we won't even try." Logan nodded, eyeing Patton from the corner of his eye.

"What did you mean about Virgil and Roman being 'cute?'"

Patton laughed. "I mean they're so going to end up dating, you must have seen the way they look at each other," he declared, giving Logan a sparkly-eyed stare. "Also, Virgil's apology has taken like, twenty minutes now. Do you like anyone Logan?"

Logan assumed Patton meant romantically and shook his head, not noticing the disappointed glint in Patton's eyes and the still fall of his shoulders. "And yourself?" Logan inquired.

Patton didn't make eye contact. "Ah.. no. No one."


	7. Chapter 7

The four sides all ate their breakfast together, Thomas joining them for a short moment. Thomas took a moment to ask them if they had found any other clues or details, and they sadly admitted to him that no, they hadn't. Not for a lack of trying either.

"Maybe it's just a certain time limit?" Roman offered, shrugging loosely. The others sides looked at him, considering the idea.

Logan sighed, fixing his glasses and loudly clicking his laptop keys. "That would be agreeable," he spoke clearly, barely glancing up. "One has to wonder if the time-limit would be too elongated to rely on none the less."

Thomas frowned, running a hand through his hair. "Well, try to work it out I guess," he said awkwardly. He was aware he wasn't being much help but really, what could he do? "I'll see you guys later then." Just like that, he left.

"Roman dear, help me collect the dishes," Patton said after a moment, already getting up and heading towards the sink. Roman rolled his eyes but got up and helped out, leaving Virgil and Logan at the table. Virgil leaned over to Logan, looking at his screen, curious about what it was he was trying to find. After all, it's not like this type of situation was common.

Noting Virgil's interest, Logan smiled slightly. He was never one to turn down rambling on and on about whatever research it was he was into, he loved showing off. "I detected that our situation is exclusive if you will," he explained, saying Virgil's thoughts out loud.

Virgil nodded, scanning his screen, and then raised his eyebrow in interest. That was one way to look at it. "Instead of researching real-life examples, I decided to broaden my research, looking at... fables, if you will. Belief systems, different belief systems, looking for anything that could possibly pertain to us."

"Far reach, but interesting take," Virgil said slowly, tilting his head. "Good job." He grinned a bit, humming softly in amusement.

In another moment, Patton suddenly popped up in between them, making them move away a bit from where they had been leaning into each other, staring at Patton in surprise. "What are you looking at?" Patton asked, taking Virgil's place at Logan's side, a sweet smile on his face.

As Logan went on to explain his ideas to Patton, who listened and replied in clear excitement, Roman slipped up to Virgil's own side, gently nudging their arms together. "Virgil?" the flexible side asked, drawing Virgil's attention over to him. "Let's go upstairs."

Virgil raised an eyebrow but nodded, standing up and going upstairs. Patton and Logan were so focused on their conversation, Virgil and Roman were pretty sure they hadn't even noticed the pair leaving. Roman led him to Thomas' room with a bounce in his step, leaving Virgil to follow behind in slight amusement and boredom.

As they entered Thomas' room, Roman sighed dramatically, sitting on Thomas' bed. "I had to get away from their flirting," Roman groaned. Virgil stared at him blankly for a moment before grinning, suddenly amused. That's why Patton had slipped in between Logan and himself- he had been jealous.

So... Patton and Logan? The fans would be happy at least. Though. Virgil's smile slowly turned into a frown as he considered Logan. Would the all-serious, no-nonsense side even notice Patton's interest in him? If he somehow did, would he react well? Did Logan even like Patton back?

Virgil liked both Logan and Patton, but Patton had a bit of a special place in his heart. He was the first out of the sides who accepted him truly, in fact he had accepted him from the very start, no pressure needed. He was just so sweet and innocent, and, for the lack of a better word, fluffy. Thinking of him getting his heart broken made Virgil's own heartache, even more since it was Logan. Logan wouldn't know gentle if it hit him in the face.

Logan would go on some long speech about how emotions (love for sure) were just hormones that got in the way, and how they could be created in a lab for all purposes, and true love was a motion for fools. He wouldn't do it with the intention to hurt of course, but Virgil could only see it hurting Patton. He wouldn't just break his heart, he would shatter it.

Roman must have seen the alarmed look on Virgil's face, because he frowned and sat up, hands twitching for the sword that was nowhere close. "What?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes and sitting up straight like he was trying to project his royalty. "What's with that sudden panicked look, is someone raining on your black parade?"

Virgil gave Roman a look just for the end of that sentence but sighed. "Logan," he said blandly. Roman only stared at him blankly, making Virgil groan, frustrated. "Come on, roses! You're the romantic side!"

"Did you just call me roses-" Virgil's original point must have clicked because Roman's eyes widened "-OH... Oh no..." Roman started pacing, frowning. He clearly understood now why Virgil was so worried about tiny, happy, sweet, adorable Patton getting his heart crushed ino tiny bits.

"We should teach Logan how to properly deny someone," Virgil decided, but he was already frowning at the idea of trying to teach Logan anything, not to even get into the subject matter. Romance? Not his department.

In all of Thomas' past relationships, Virgil was one of the ones who messed stuff up the most. He was just so worried about Thomas losing these boyfriends, these people that were so important to him. So he pushed his anxiety onto Thomas. Anxiety to do the best he could do, to make sure that his boyfriends loved him constantly, to never make a mistake. It turned into a clingy, overly emotional Thomas.

That was probably one of the reasons Roman had gotten annoyed with him at the start. He had ruined so many relationships that the other three had tried so hard to build up, all because he was... him. He was Virgil. He was anxiety. He got anxious, as was his nature, and then everything went wrong. It wasn't as bad now, but no matter what Virgil did or how much he improved, it would never erase the mistakes he had made in the past.

It wouldn't erase the people he lost. The happiness he destroyed. Moments where Thomas could be happy that was ripped away by that one, little, nagging, thought... Anxiety.

Sighing, Virgil ripped himself out of his depressing thoughts. The issue at hand was Patton and Logan, he shouldn't be internally whining and complaining about his own problems when they had bigger fish to fry. It wouldn't help them come to a solution.

Roman was currently giving him a horrified expression, so Virgil could only deduct that he had said another thing wrong. "Deny?" Roman repeated. "You want to teach Logan how to deny Patton? I mean, if worse comes to worse, better a polite denial than whatever Logan could normally cook up- but why would we want him to deny Patton?"

Virgil gave Roman a blank look, not exactly getting the message. Of course, he didn't want Logan to deny Patton, he knew it would only hurt him, that was why he was doing this entire 'we should teach Logan how to be nice and not an asshole at the very least' plan.

Roman sighed again though, shaking his head sadly. It made Virgil want to grit his teeth, but remembering their earlier promise of friendship, he resisted the urge. "What?" Virgil demanded, narrowing his eyes. "What am I missing?"

"We-" Roman grabbed Virgil's hand, making him flinch a bit, and whatever it was that was making Roman smile like that could not be a good thing "-are going to get Patton and Logan together!"

Oh.

Oh no.


End file.
